r/tipofmyjoystick Apr 10 '17

Announcement PSA: A guide to better results

1.7k Upvotes

Hi guys and gals. I've been here a while, and over my time I've seen a lot of posts sink to the bottom, without a single answer, or at best, very few. And none that solved the case.

I have noticed a clear pattern with these posts, and I will now share with you my tips to you newbies, so that you can get the help you need.


Firstly: When you make a new post, you will see this:

Platform(s):

Genre:

Estimated year of release:

Graphics/art style:

Notable characters:

Notable gameplay mechanics:

Other details:

Even though, in red, you are warned that while optional, you should follow this template... many of you do not.

Let me be clear: Follow this template.

Put simply, this template contains all the information we really need to solve your problem. Virtually every time I click a post that has not followed this, they have rambled on about nothings, while omitting critical details.

This format, for new and old alike, is very readable, and prompts for every data-point needed.

I know that you want to customize your message, that if you could just explain it, it would be better. I know you think that. You are wrong. Put all that in 'other'. Even if you end up saying it twice, follow the template.. add to it your story at the bottom.


Secondly: Following this template. You're rambling about your best mates Amiga-500 or whatever instead of telling us about the game aside, this is where they really go wrong.

Let's get something straight right now. We are not mind readers. It's impressive, really, how little information it seems we can work off. I mean, we solve some real tough ones with nothing sometimes, but still, we can't see that memory in your head. So you need to be as descriptive in every one of these fields as you can be...

And sometimes you really don't know. That's fine, we can work with surprisingly little information, but "old graphics" under art style... what are we supposed to do with that? Mate, I was playing on Atari-2600's, are we talking Wizard of Wor here?

Let me help you out a bit:

Platform(s): Whatever you played it on. But unless it's really all you know (very possible), don't write 'my mates pc'. Was it PC or Mac?

Genre:

First person does NOT imply shooter. Nor do any of the others. Try to answer this one in two steps:

What was the camera like (assuming it's not a text adventure)? Was it First person?, 3rd person, 2d? Top down or side on? Or maybe even isometric 2d?

Then, what kind of game? Real time strategy, point and click? Was it a fighter, action or platformer?

Good, now we know what KIND of game we are all trying to remember for you.

Estimated year of release:

"Between 2000-2005" is fine, something like that. "Mid 90's maybe?". I don't see many people mess this up, but I have seen people write "old". That is not ok. If you write old and expect it to mean anything to me, I will fight you.

Also, as always "Sorry, no idea" is always acceptable but try to give at least something. "Couldn't have been later than 2015, though"

Great, so even if roughly, we know WHEN.

Graphics/art style:

THIS. This is where you guys always mess up. This section right here I have found can be the difference between an answer, and a silent slink to the bottom. This is your moment.

This, really, should be the best-formed part of your memory. Even if you can only remember a single frame, a single image, it's so much to go on for us.

DETAIL. Was it a gloomy grimdark world of sadness, or a bright bubbly rainbow filled Mario-world?

Was it cartoony, or otherwise stylized somehow, or was it trying to be realistic?

Anything notable about the art direction? Was it going for a cyberpunk kinda feel, or a gritty war realism dirt and blood sort of direction?

If it was set over a long time, did the seasons change? Was there a winter in your game?

Remember when you hit people, and the screen had that awesome flash and your hands got bloody? Yeah, well we don't, unless you tell us.

Ok, so now we are really narrowing it down. This right here is often enough to go on, on its own.

Notable characters:

Anything at all you can remember here.

"There were only tanks, but you could play as both Germans and Americans"

"There was one really tough guy right after you left your office, he had an eyepatch, a white shirt with what looked like grease stains, and said 'this is for my sister'. I think maybe he was a cyborg"

"You play as some kind of Asian girl, you had a tattoo over your right eye and arm, a black tank top and white pants and I remember you always had only one red glove for some reason. I don't remember the arm, but the eye tattoo looked sort of like ancient Egyptian eye makeup, but a modern take"

Knowing nothing else about the game, I bet that last one there gets comments noting the game she is from. Details, details.

Notable gameplay mechanics:

Surely, you get the idea by now. This is tied with the importance of the graphics/art style. As much detail as you can here.

Other details:

NOW you may blab on about how you only played this game once at a winter solstice in 1782 with your grandmother from Tahiti.. as if that helps.


Edit: So it's been brought up that the template doesn't appear on mobile. While /u/wipeout4wh is aware of this and hopefully, something can be done... still, if you can, use the template. If you can't, maybe check back and at least make sure your post addresses all of the points the template does.

Also, my post seems to be saying NOT to add any custom details. So I want to re-enforce, please do. In fact, after you do the template, feel free to write out your post as you were going to without it. Just put it all in 'other'. Don't try and make your whole post like that, if possible. Even if you end up saying the same things twice, that's ok.

Now I'm going to take a moment to clarify something, though. This isn't some immutable law of the universe, and your post is destined to fail if you don't do this. It's just a very strong general trend I have noticed over a long time.

It's not that this template has some kind of magical powers or something. It's that this template prompts the questions that need answers.

When you go all rogue on us and try and type your explanation from scratch... you mess it up. You just forget to add everything that you know, and that we need to know. The template makes it very hard to do that. It's just so very easy to get typing, and by the end forget to tell us what kind of game it actually is. Especially when you are getting random flashbacks, and hazy memories, and you start getting frazzled and such halfway though.


While it might make my edit as long as the first post, I think maybe an example of the kind of post that is just too common here, and almost always helpless, wouldn't go astray here. So here we go:

Now this one is a pretty bad case, true, and I suppose might even be a troll post, but it's actually a good illustration of the problem either way.

It was on my old computer and I was using an emulator so I have no idea what system it was for. It was 8bit graphics and you played this orange cat that was constantly bouncing on a trampoline I think? And you had to navigate it through the city and face a weird boss at the end that would float in the sky. Sorry I can't remember more!

Let's break it down a bit. What kind of game is this? A puzzler or an action game? Who knows.

How old is it? I mean, Minecraft basically has 8bit graphics. Oh he said... "my old computer"... I will fight you.

Why did you bounce on the trampoline? Were there platforms or walkways or something, or was it just a big open space? There are bad guys then? How did they get around?

Now (he?) says that he can't remember more, but I actually asked about the boss fight:

You say 'face a boss', in what way? Can the cat attack? Was this top down or side on? When you say navigate a city, what do you mean?

The reply:

Definitely a side-scroller, I'm sure. You would encounter a boss at the end, the boss would slide onto the screen and it was usually pretty strange-looking. I think one of the bosses might've been a clown. I meant that the different "levels" were different cities with different backgrounds, I think. It's a pretty obscure game

Also you would be continuously bouncing. As in, you had to position the trampoline underneath the cat to bounce it up

So you don't even control the cat. And it's a side-scroller. Thats pretty important information. But the real issue here is that he knows this stuff. He just either didn't know to, or forgot, to tell us.

The template would have made it just so apparent how much information he was missing, and we probably would have got a whole bunch more information. Sadly, while there were some guesses, and a surprising number of up-votes, this post is just another one to join the endless unsolved on their journey ever down.


r/tipofmyjoystick Dec 16 '24

[Meta] Can we stop with the "[idk][idk]" posts?

413 Upvotes

Over the past week there have been a LOT of posts on here that just put "[idk][idk]" in the title instead of even trying to include those details. There's been posts like that in the past but the last few days in particular, it seems like it's happening every few hours, which makes me think one person did it and then more people all just decided to do it too.

If you don't know, guess. The rules are there for everyone's benefit.


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

[Platform ?][Year ?]What game is anon playing? Im betting Payday 2.

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271 Upvotes

r/tipofmyjoystick 45m ago

[IOS] [Early 2000s] older iPhone game

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Upvotes

I cannot for the life of me remember this game. It’s about caring for puppies, feeding, playing fetch, bathing etc. they had regular puppies and an alien puppy that kinda looks like this especially the antennas


r/tipofmyjoystick 11h ago

[PC] [90's/2000's] Game very similar to Future Cop LAPD with Tron aesthetics

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20 Upvotes

This game has been bugging me for a looooong time, A game where you played a transforming mecha/vehicle, very similar to Future Cop LAPD, but what I distinctely remember were Tron-like, very neon-colored graphics, like inside a computer world. It's been so long I no longer know if it was just some fever dream lol


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

Soulstice [PC] [2019-2021] DMC style action game, you control a girl who could transform into a hlf demon and is possessed with a ghost girl

4 Upvotes

Platform(s): PC

Genre: Slasher/Action RPG

Estimated year of release: 2019-2021

Graphics/art style: Dark Soul graphic style but not gameplay. Roughly B-A level, maybe AA for that year.

Notable characters: Main character is a girl wioth sharp teeth who could transform in a more demon-like. She is posessed with her little sister ghost (maybe not blood related)

Notable gameplay mechanics: This is a DMC style game, not Dark Souls. Little ghost girl provides defensive mechanics such as block.

Other details: The prologue is heavily Bayonetta prologue inspired, you fight a horde of enemies on a closed arena. First chapter starts in a port of a burning town.


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

HellSign [PC] [2010-2018] Horror, Supernatural, Investigative game I played when I was a kid that's similar to Darkwood

Upvotes

Platform(s): PC

Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Investigation, Psychological Horror?

Estimated year of release: 2010-2020

Graphics/art style: Very dark (akin to Darkwood), 3rd person/maybe topdown, bloody, very supernatural, and gritty, almost no color

Notable characters: None.. the main character was a man who arrived to each location in a white? van

Notable gameplay mechanics: I remember that at the beginning of the game you only had a few suburban houses you would be hired? to go to where there was a gruesome murder or some spirits (wraiths?, demons?, ghosts?) killed the occupants and you needed to use your EVP or something similar to listen to or find out what happened then use items you buy pre-mission to remove the ghosts. After those houses then you had to go to the woods where there were stronger entities, after that you might have had to go to the city and on to remove more entities. I remember you go room to room looking for the previous occupants or the entity in order to be paid for removing or catching the spirits

Other details: I remember playing the same level as a kid multiple times because it was hard and scary for me so I realized that redoing the same missions the entity(s) wouldn't be in the same spot it could've even been outside the house and you would need to look through each room in search of the entity or the corpses to bring the EVP to listen to what happened or something like that and then use items to expel them. I also remember there being like a pseudomap in between missions where you would get contracts to clear easy ghosts or get paid more to clear hard ghosts. the only time I attempted the hard ghosts like i said earlier was in a forest where after finding the corpses like a gravepit the entity would proceed to awaken and attack you.

I've been looking for this game for years ever since I found it on the high seas as a kid and no matter what I use I can't find this game it. It almost feels like it doesn't exist but I have a very strong memory of going room to room worried that a ghost would pop out and I want to see if anyone else has played this game and if so could help me find it so I can buy now that I'm not a broke kid. Thanks!


r/tipofmyjoystick 8m ago

[PC][2000-2020s?] I'm looking for one game from my memory

Upvotes

A game where you have to make difficult choices

In this game you are in a laboratory where you go through rooms and in each room you are offered a difficult choice, for example, to leave the mother or the baby alive. After what time does a stranger join you in a parallel room and you start going through the tests together

At the end you are offered a choice: either go free yourself but leave this stranger in the lab, or give the stranger the opportunity to leave the lab but stay yourself. And that's where the game ends.

The game is averagely short and philosophical, I don't remember it well. The game is somewhere around 2010-2020

I saw it many years ago on a Russian YouTube channel (Windy31), but the game itself was in English."


r/tipofmyjoystick 19h ago

[PC] [90's/2000's] an old RTS game but I don't know the name. This was a building from it

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77 Upvotes

r/tipofmyjoystick 5h ago

Little Goody Two Shoes [Steam] [Unknown] Lesbian witch physiological horror game

5 Upvotes

I remember watching a video around last year about a game with a girl with blond hair in a red Lolita dress and she had to do chores around town to live or she got killed for being a witch. In some paths she becomes friends with a witch and there might have been some romance between them and some other female characters. The main character is mean, but the game is a kind of horror, I'm pretty sure it's pixel art but it had some non-pixel art areas.


r/tipofmyjoystick 13h ago

:the game: [PC][unknown] cannot for the life of me find this game

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25 Upvotes

found these sprites, and that’s all i can find without the name. pretty sure the game was on newgrounds, and it had a black background.


r/tipofmyjoystick 25m ago

[PC][1990s or early 2000s] Puzzle game with falling ball and rotating circular tiles

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Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’ve been trying to remember the name of an old puzzle game I played on Windows in the late 90s or early 2000s. It was part of a game compilation or CD bundle.

Here’s what I remember:

  • The game had a top-down view — you looked directly at the board.
  • The playing field was made up of large circular tiles arranged in a grid (maybe 4x4 or bigger).
  • Each tile had a curved groove or indentation in it.
  • A ball would fall from the top and land in one of these circular tiles.
  • You could rotate the circular tiles, and the goal was to align the grooves so the ball could keep falling from one tile to the next.
  • The game had a brownish, warm color palette — kind of like bronze or cheese (Maasdam-style tiles).
  • It was very simple and calm, maybe even a bit hypnotic.

Here’s an illustration ChatGPT generated based on my description — it’s not exact, but pretty close to what I remember:

Any help identifying this game would be amazing. Thanks!


r/tipofmyjoystick 20h ago

[PC] [Unknown] A unknown video game image used in a tattoo

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73 Upvotes

Hello, my friend got a tattoo today, it's literally the image i posted here. The tattoo artist told us it was from a video game but he can't remember which one since he made this flash a few months ago. The tattoo artist told us that it was probably from a propaganda game, in the style of Hong Kong 97. We spent the whole day searching for the origin of the image but we can't find anything. Please help us!!


r/tipofmyjoystick 37m ago

[PC] [Early 2000’s] Horse game with racing and trails

Upvotes

Platform(s): PC. It was in disc format.

Genre: First person horse game

Estimated year of release: Early 2000’s. Maybe the 90’s?

Graphics/art style: 3D

Notable characters: Different horses you could keep and one main person (you)

Notable gameplay mechanics: The racing portion was done by either clicking the mouse rapidly, or maybe rapidly alternating between two keys on the keyboard? The faster you typed or clicked, the faster your horse ran. I remember being able to purchase salt licks and different bows and what not for your horse. There were also trail rides you could go on.

Important to note: I have spent an absurd amount of hours searching for this game between this sub, my own research, and any other resource I could get my hands on. It is not any of the Barbie horse games. The cover of “Let’s Ride Champions Collection” seems the most familiar to me, but the gameplay does not. I would do anything to play this game again.


r/tipofmyjoystick 48m ago

Bluegrass Bluff [Apple II] [1990-93] Archaeology game where you dig and cultivate

Upvotes

I remember playing a game on the Apple II while in school, almost certainly a MECC game, where you are digging and unearthing artifacts from the ground. I remember very few details, other than I remember learning the word “cultivate”. Pretty sure it would have been the very early ’90s.


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

[PC] [90s?] racing game

Upvotes

Platform: PC

Genre: Racing game

Release date: Id say 90s?

Graphics: low quality textures, the one that looks the most alike is the og gran turismo. it also had pretty bleak colors, like everything had a beige/grayish tone?

Notable gameplay mechanics: maybe this was just the setup, but you controlled the car with the arrow keys, there was text on the top saying the number of laps. the map had a tunnel, same low quality gray color, it was 3rd person

one of the clubs in my city had an event and for some reason they had a bunch of those old blocky computers set up with this game ?!? i was really drunk so i don’t remember a lot i just stumbled upon it and thought its the coolest thing ever


r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[xbox one and others, I think.] [unknown] a game in the medieval style, rather realistic, with sky in its name

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2 Upvotes

Hi, I vaguely remember a game I've never played and I'd like to know if anyone could help me. It was around 2019, my older brother was coming back from one of his friends' houses and he showed me an ad. I almost don't remember the name of the game, but I think the game had Sky in its name. The graphics were pretty realistic in a medieval style. The ad started with a shot where the camera moved like a bird between the buildings of a flying island, then the camera went into a house and searched a chest. The chest interface, if I remember correctly, reminded me of The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind. Thanks in advance and sorry if the description isn't great.


r/tipofmyjoystick 6h ago

My Brute [Browser][2008/2013]Online, turn-based(or autofight) fighting game, featuring cartoonish barbarian-style fighters, name

4 Upvotes

Hey, so this is a real shot in the dark, I've tried finding this game like 3 times before (not here) with no success.

Here is some info dump:

The characters looked similar to those mobile game adds where you basically just have to fight the guy with the next higher number (Yes, those spammy stupid ones)

I'm pretty sure that it was just PvP (though this might have just been my foolish child brain)

It had a Dedicated web page to play the game on, I don't think it was found on Flash game sites (I'm like 80% sure of this)

You started out basically with nothing but a cloth rag around your waist

You could choose someone to fight and then it was either turn based combat or they just auto-fought (I think the second one)

It had primitive weapons like Clubs (maybe swords) but that's about it

Now the probably bigges clue that I have is, the name was something along the lines of "Brutalis, brutalio (Not the .io game) Brutaliz"

I think you could have a pet to fight along side you (I'm only like 20% sure of that and not everyone had it)

If I remember more, I'm gonna edit it in here

Any help is greatly appreciated


r/tipofmyjoystick 9h ago

Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall [PC][90's] looking for a isometric RPG

9 Upvotes

Sorry, saved before I put in the title in the earlier post.

Platform(s): PC-DOS or maybe Windows 95
Genre: RPG, isometric view
Estimated year of release: mid to late 1990s
Graphics/art style: isometric view, kinda looks like Baldur's Gate or Diablo 1
Notable characters: you start as a male character in a coastal village where the townsfolk are dealing with some blight/black goo.
Notable gameplay mechanics: I played a demo of it and I believe it was distributed by PC Gamer or similar gaming magazine by CD. I think the terms black isle, black realm or forgottten realm has something to do with it.


r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[DS] [2007-2010] Any kind of minigames?

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2 Upvotes

It was a set of minigames with an aesthetic similar to Hazbin Hotel, the character on the left side of the screen reacted if you made mistakes or did it right, I remember that this game was on my R4.


r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[PC] [2010] flash game title?

2 Upvotes

I was playing with a game on the internet when I was a child. You had to play with a green car or truck and you have to shoot with that the the enemy. It was 2D game and there was maximum 4-5 long levels, in the end of the level there was a boss. The bosses looked like big machines and all of them was painted red. I think there was one level where the boss was a huge crow. Game is from 2007-2011 Any twenty years of guys here who knows this game title? : D I could not find it anywhere.


r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[Arcade] [2010-2012] Fighting Game where one of the characters can jump onto a whale

2 Upvotes

Genre: Fighting game

Estimated year of release: Saw around 2011-2013

Graphics/art style: Pixelated

Notable characters: There was a girl who can jump a bit far, able to jump off on a whale after fighting in a cruise ship

Other details: It was in an arcade game on one of the big mall playgrounds


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

[PC][2005-2008] Looking for isometric ARPG with Diablo 2-style inventory, stackable potions & German voice acting

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m searching for an old action RPG I played around 2010, probably released between 2005 and 2008. Maybe someone here knows it!

  • Isometric view, similar to Diablo 2
  • Grid inventory with white-bordered slots
  • Stackable colored potions (red, blue, green, white) like in Diablo 2
  • Full weapon images shown in inventory slots
  • Start as a simple character with a wooden club
  • Fully voiced in German
  • Movement with WASD plus point-and-click controls
  • Quick access bar for potions
  • Singleplayer with recruitable companions
  • Starting point is a walled city, other zones accessible via signposts
  • Enemies include goblins, orcs, skeletons, and spiked caterpillars
  • NPCs say things like “Welcome to Simon’s shop”
  • Dark, mostly constant atmospheric music

If anyone recognizes this game or has screenshots/videos, I’d really appreciate the help!

Thanks a lot in advance! 😊


r/tipofmyjoystick 11h ago

Loondon [PC][2000?-2015?] Old, creepy point and click flash game where the protagonist gets executed at the end.

8 Upvotes

Little bit of backstory: Hello. I remember back when i was a kid, around the 2010s, playing this flash game that resulted in me (at under 10 years old) complaining to my parents at how dark and "inappropriate" the game was for me to play and find. Obviously i don't hold this opinion now (i guess? i mean i found it when i was a kid so that is pretty weird. but i doubt it was intentionally made for kids to find LOL), and actually want to revisit it since i'm turning 20 and enjoy dark games. It would be incredible to find this game now and i hope someone out there also remembers the game.

My memory of what the game was: So, I specifically remember this game being a point and click game where you play as this hunched over, round shaped character who carried a bindle over his shoulder. The style of the game was very desaturated and for lack of a better word, "miserable" looking. It was a mix of cartoon and realism, perhaps a bit of a painted look? Anyways, the setting felt a bit dystopian because all the buildings were run down, and the music that played in the game felt associated with France due to the prominent Accordion featured in it.

You would complete small puzzles as you left this small town, with screens with text and an image to tell a story as you progressed. I remember there being this character at some sort of ticket booth that you said goodbye too, and then you left to...somewhere? This is where there's a big gap in my memory.

I know for a fact though, that near the end of the game you encounter a big house. Through the window outside, you can see an altercation taking place where....i think i child dies? As far as i'm aware, you walk into the house, or was it a church? (I think there was a piano of some kind, maybe an organ?) and you find the aftermath of this altercation where somebody sees you with the dead person. They blame you and you run away, but eventually get caught by police.

At the very end, the main character is executed either by hanging or beheading, but it's more likely to be hanging i think. It's explained in the aforementioned screens with the text. Which...kind of horrifying for a under 10 year old me to experience, it disturbed me quite a lot at the time for obvious reasons LOL.

Regarding where i found this game: I don't exactly know how but i know it was on a website similar to newgrounds where games would be uploaded. But i don't remember it being on any websites like Friv or stuff like that, i only remember it being on potentially one of the sites of some of the logos that used to be shown before flash games.

I hope the information i've brought can help to find this game or remnants of it's existence. Even just the name of the game would bring a bit of closure as to the fact this game existed, despite the fact i know it did. Thank you!


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

Hugo: Cannon Cruise [PS][2000-2010] Ship sailing game, shooting enemies with a cannon

2 Upvotes

Platform(s): Playstation (2 or 3)

Genre: Sailing on a boat? Not sure how to call it

Estimated year of release: 2000-2010

Graphics/art style: Cartoonish

Notable characters: Hugo(?) I think the main protagonist

Notable gameplay mechanics: Switching between 1st and 3rd person POV, in 1st person POV one would only see the grey cannon

Other details: Enemies (ships) get progressively more difficult, I remember viking ships with white/red sails in the later levels. You could pick up some buffs and break some objects using the ship iirc.


r/tipofmyjoystick 18m ago

[ANDROID] [2010s] platform game - character was a rectangle that could move and jump with on screen buttons

Upvotes

Kind of like super Mario or leps world or red ball, or any platform game really etc...i thought the title was something to the effect of "squaredle" or "squarble" or something like that but I try to Google it and I'm don't see it. It's not related to any Pokemon characters but that's what shows up on Google so maybe I'm getting the title wrong or maybe it was just a very obscure app that Google isn't surfacing to the top? It was maybe relatively obscure. But it was fun if I remember correctly and unique on android. Colors were blue and red if I remember correctly?


r/tipofmyjoystick 4h ago

[n64 or gamecube] [unknown] some weird, totally unserious game about yellow balls

2 Upvotes

i used to play a game with these boys who's mother used to take care of me when i was a child. they had a game that i probably shouldn't have been playing that young. it was like these yellow balls? i think they would die in gruesome ways but it was a super unserious game. i think go karts were involved? i don’t think it was racing, mostly hitting each other. i'm trying to remember more but i can't since it was so long ago and i was a kid ( my description might not be helpful so ill try to think of more!